High % ABV/ABW Brews

How do companies like Sam Adams, etc. make crazy high %ABV brews? I've seen ones made by Sam Adams that are in the 18%+ range, highest being around 25%.

As I live in MO I cannot sample these harcore brews. But do you just add more DME/LME and yeast to the wort to increase the fermentable sugars?

NINJA yeast

Sam Adams Utopias uses some simple sugars like maple syrup to help boost the ABV, but the key is the yeast strain that they have developed. There was an article in a recent BYO, though, about a homebrewer who made a 21% beer using just malt. There are yeast strains we can buy that will get you into that range, and some people will use distiller's yeast or champagne yeast to dry the beer out some more.

The best approach is a stepped ferment, the way sake is produced. You would make something around 1.100, ferment it, add extract/concentrated wort and a super gravity yeast, ferment, add, ferment.

Another method is to start with a huge pile of grain, mash thick and use the first runnings. The few brews above 20% that I've tasted used first runnings and a lot of boil down.

In either case, plan on 3-6 months for the ferment.

Interesting, I have no idea how sake is made so I will have to research that.

I haven't gotten to the chapter about mashing yet in my book, may skip a few chapters to see what its all about.

be careful though drinking beer that strong can make you very which is an awful thing to happen to somebody! hic!